MP-05 Masterpiece Megatron (Takara Exclusive)

What can you say about the great Megatron, leader of the Decpticons in gigantic toy form that hasn’t been said already? As of this writing I’ve owned this guy for 5 years so consider this a long term follow up. When I originally received MP-5 Takara Masterpiece Megatron it was my second figure of the line and I can still remember how impressed I was. The only other figure of this type I had seen was Hasbro/Takara MP-01 Optimus Prime and that figure was and still is utterly amazing.

In hindsight MP-05 falls a bit short, but keep in mind I’ve since experienced Masterpiece Starscream, Grimlock, Rodimus Prime, Optimus Prime v2, and the outstanding Soundwave. Don’t misunderstand, the figure looks great, scales with MP-01 Optimus well, and has a complexity that clearly lets everyone know its not some kids toy.

Why does Masterpiece Megatron fall short? For starters its very fragile. The very first time I transformed it one of the knee joints snapped due to a QC issue. I was able to get a replacement part and it has not been a problem since. Other little tabs and pegs have either broken off or gotten stressed over the years to the point that I avoid transforming it anymore for fear I’ll damage something critical.

Second of all its more or less useless to try and pose the figure in anything but the standard stance. His arm kibble gets in the way, his leg kibble gets in the way, his hip joints are unable to support the weight of the figure in dynamic poses. Pieces constantly need adjustment after the slightest touch. The arm cannon is simply too big and heavy for the figure and requires some tricky angles and balance to get the pose shown on the box. I would not have minded if the cannon was smaller, and in fact it may have made the gun mode look better too. In the following picture the figure leans a little at the hips and there is no way to fix it I can see. The internal skeleton/frame has warped over the years due to the weight of the figure, and I no longer display it out of box for fear of it getting worse.

So we have reasons to not transform it, and another reason not to display it. The third major flaw is the chromed metal parts such as the spine and feet. Over time these parts have turned a varying shade of gold/rust. Fans call it cosmic rust like the disease from the G1 cartoon, and that’s cute but for a figure of this caliber and cost its not acceptable and just looks awful in person. I have a picture below showing the tarnished foot if you are wondering what this cosmic rust looks like.

That gun mode… I am happy to have gotten a modern Megatron that transforms into an accurate looking pistol but it is oversize and as a result looks odd when the average person holds it. It may not be apparent in the pictures but trust me its very obvious in hand. I’m sure this was done to have the robot mode scale closely to MP-01 and I can live with that. I’m quite pleased to have gotten a Megatron that has a realistic gun mode, but due to US toy laws I had to go through a bunch of hoops to get it and when it first showed up it had some awful orange plug in the barrel that was added not by Takara, but the import/exporter that shipped it. I removed the plug on arrival as I felt it was very ugly.

For the most part the pistol looks excellent as can be seen above. Everything locks into place and it is very sturdy in this form. If you want to display it, pistol mode is the way to do so. There is some minor fitment issues that aren’t very noticeable. The trigger moves on a spring loaded mechanism but doesn’t actually click. The scope is removable and lights up. Due to the light up feature you can’t actually look through it.

MP-05 Megatron comes with comparable accessories to MP-01 Optimus Prime. He has his energon mace, a pistol, energon saber, and Kremzeek. All of these accessories were featured in the G1 cartoon at one time. Also included is the standard Takara character booklet and trading card.

I’m hoping that like Optimus and Starscream; Takara/Hasbro decide to make an updated version of Megatron that is more durable, posable, and in scale with the Masterpiece figures that released after MP-05. I’d certainly pick it up even if he didn’t transform into a gun. MP-05 is great to look at, not so much for anything else. If you need it in your collection go for it, just be aware that its best to leave it in the box.